"We've joked about its refusal to die before, but today, finally, the console begins its march into the history books. Having sold over 150 million units since its release in 2000, the PlayStation 2 has today ceased shipping to Japanese retailers, meaning once remaining stock is gone, it's gone. The console was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000, and in those twelve years has become - by a longshot - the biggest-selling home video game console of all time." I should play Shadow of the Colossus again.

To be honest, I never really like the PS2. But for reasons that many might view as rather petty: The PS2 was evolutionarily* behind the Dreamcast and yet the PS2 is what eventually killed** Sega.

* The specs were comparable between the DC and the PS2, but the DC is what first brought internet play to console gamers. It was the first console to make good use of a keyboard and mouse. First to promote homebrew games (a community Sony still turn their backs on even today) and first bring us audio and display on the controllers. The DC had memory cards that were consoles in their own right and did a whole boat load of other cool stuff too. It's taken the games industry 10 years to catch up with the DC in terms of the vision Sega started.

** metaphorically and over dramatised I know. Sega are still releasing games and arcade machines, but their consoles used to be kickarse.